Road chaos after traffic lights knocked out of sync

A COMPUTER glitch has has caused chaos in central Edinburgh after traffic lights were knocked out of sequence.

Drivers suffered severe delays of up to half an hour after lights began to change too fast in the west end of the city centre.

Council engineers went to each junction to try to fix the lights by hand, after some lights only left drivers with five second to get through.

Council works had to fix the lights manually

The problems became apparent during rush hour today (friday), with Haymarket and George Street being particularly affected.

At 3.00pm a council spokesman said the main traffic light at the Palmerston Place and West Maitland Street junction was repaired.

The council did not know when the computer problem would be repaired, the spokesman said.

Councillor Gordon Mackenzie, Transport Leader for the City of Edinburgh Council said: “Computer engineers are working hard to fix the fault which is causing these unforeseen problems. To help ease congestion our technicians are also attempting to fix various traffic lights by hand.

“I apologise to motorists for any delays they have experienced. In the meantime I would ask motorists, especially those travelling through the west of the city, to only make journeys if necessary and to use an alternative route, as we try to fix the problem.”

Lothian Buses said all services which went through the city centre would experience delays of 30 minutes.

The council said the delays were not connected to Edinburgh’s tram works, which knocked out power to several buildings earlier this month after a cable was mistakenly cut through.

Edinburgh’s famous Princes Street has been closed to traffic since September last year due to the ongoing tram works..